this is where christopher dorner put up his last stand. cornered and out of option. a law enforcement officer said they heard a single gunshot before the flames went up in flames. christopher dorner has been on the run since super bowl sunday. investigators said dorner left an 11,000 manifesto on his facebook page threatening to exact revenge on anyone connected to what he called his unjust firing from lapd. he then allegedly killed a riverside police officer and wounded two others before disappearing at big bear mountain. four days later around noon on tuesday, an alert went out to law enforcement officers to watch out for a stolen vehicle. a fish and wild life warden on patrol spotted dorner in that

vehicle. >> they were so close that he recognized his face. >> reporter: san bernardino officials caught up with borner at a cabin. >> there's a tactical situation right here. >> reporter: according to source they shot tear gas into the home important,ly leading to the fire. and ending one of the region's most extensive and deadly man hunts. sadly, a sheriff's deputy was killed during a gun battle at that cabin and right now investigators are still in the process of trying to positively i.d. those human remains. richard, back to you. >> thank you so much. now to reaction that's rolling into president obama's state of the union address last night. democrats calling it a lecture for both suicide a broad brush while republicans complain about lack of details to fix the economy. tracie potts has details from washington for us.

good morning. >> reporter: the day after president obama heads to north carolina we just got detail of that trip. he's going to a plant that just hired 160 workers, one of the hall marks of his speech here on capitol hill last night. creating new jobs for the middle class is the president's focus. >> we can't ask senior citizens and working families to shoulder the entire burden of deficit reduction. >> reporter: he's pushing for a permanent budget. >> the greatest nation on earth can't continue by going from one crisis to the next. >> reporter: allowing homeowners to refinance. >> democrats and republicans have supported it before so what are we waiting for? >> reporter: immigration reform. >> now is the time to get it done. >> reporter: a vote on gun control with victims families in the audience. >> more than two dozen americans

whose lives have been torn apart by gun violence. they deserve a vote. >> reporter: but a vote on what? >> they need to look at background checks, gun trafficking. >> go whatever the bad guys, go after the nut cases that proclaim their craziness. >> reporter: republicans say the speech was short on specifics. >> how will you cut spending, mr. president. >> reducing spending and taking down the deficit i don't buy it. we heard it before. >> reporter: the president pitched new initiatives. >> more government isn't going to help you get ahead. >> reporter: the republican response as the president hits a road with jaend sure to face an uphill battle in washington. president obama condemn north korea nuclear test. another mardi gras comes to

an end in new orleans. cloudy skies and threats of rain did not dampen the spirits of party goers. it caps months of celebrations that began back on january 19th and also included the super bowl a week ago. >> pope benedict celebrated ash wednesday at the vatican. >> reporter: pope benedict xvi made his first public appearance since his announcement he's going abdicate at the end of february. he made that appearance during a general audience with thousands of people greeting him and chanting his name. he said thank you very much everybody for your prayers and thoughts and explained he thought long and hard about his decision and he said that he thinks that decision to abdicate is good for the church.

on wednesday he'll preside over a mass for ash wednesday. on the 27th of february, the day before he abdicates he'll hold a general audience in st. peter's square where thousands of the faithful are expected to come in and gather to say their last good-byes to a pope that will retire. back to you. in rome for us. bill karins joins us with weather. a lot to talk about in >> not so much. the west is quiet. so in connecticut we had all the snow. the mayor of waterbury asked them to show up. paid them minimum wage. how many do you think showed up? >> 400. >> 500. ton of people showed up.

so they are still digging out up there. >> great idea. >> we don't have to gig out in the northwest. dealing with light rain north of seattle. couple of showers here and there. the weather pattern is very quiet. it will warm up over the next couple of days especially in southern california towards the weekend the northwest still going to have clouds falling in over the top of the rich on you. you'll be a little bit cooler. 44 in l.a. i mentioned it will be a nice stretch of weather. san francisco if you're going to the 60s by friday. saturday warmest day about 64 degrees. that's great february weather. if you want to top that l.a. could be near 80 as we go through friday and saturday. we're talking good stuff head urge way. that's anny.

great stretch of weather here right into the weekend also. i left out the great weather in the northwest because they will have some showers. >> straight ahead, what's happening to 4,000 carnival tourist with no power and problems with the toilets. plus, a freshman in senator getting slapped down by veteran colleagues. "early today" is back in two minutes.

chuck hagel is one step closer to becoming secretary of defense. an entire senate vote. hearings became heated after texas senator ted cruz suggested hagel received money from what he called, quote, extreme and radical groups. >> this senator feels like that senator cruz has gone over the line. he basically has impugned the patriotism of the nominee.

>> senator hagel is an honorable man. he's served his country and no one on this committee at anytime should impugn his character or his integrity. >> meanwhile, treasury secretary nominee jack lew heads to capitol hill for his confirmation hearing. if confirmed he will succeed timothy geithner. he announced his resignation last month. one moment from marco rubio's statement. rubio reached off camera for a small bottle of water. the awkward water break immediately drew thousands of reactions on twitter. it was a top twitter reaction. conditions seem to be going from bad to worse aboard the abandoned cruise ship in the gulf of mexico. those on board describe the ship filled with sick passengers, scarce food and only a handful of working toilets. the ship is being towed and should arrive tomorrow.

>> and a tiny pinscher beat out hundreds to win best in show at the westminster kennel club. banana joe, or just joe, was first in his breed to be named top dog. looks real happy. today we'll see if some m and a action gives the market a boost. keep an eye on the current owner of this network. trading on comcast such earlier than expected. acquisition of g.e.'s remaining stake in universal. the $18.1 billion, it will end 27 of either full or partial ownership of nbc. comcast will also purchase our iconic properties here at 30 rockefeller center. the tech sector bellweather dlufrs fourth quarter earnings after the bell, cisco. and tim cook fired back about his companies $137 billion stockpile of cash. he called a recent lawsuit a

silly side show. but did say a program to return funds to share holders would be considered. >> meanwhile intel has confirmed plans to launch an online streaming tv service this year. >> the u.s. treasury reported a rare surplus in january of $2.9 billion. thanks to that social security tax cut that expired last month. meanwhile, transunion says the national rate on late payments on home loans has fallen to the lowest level in four years. 79% of women said a romantic dinner and movie is their preferred valentine's day date. happy valentine's day not is that complicated. but a sweet treat wouldn't hurt. edible shoe designs from a dallas chocolatier go from $30 to $50 a pair. that's a bargain compared to the real thing. meet the world's fastest basketball free-throw shooter in action. plus, what started this courtroom brawl. and how did it get so out of

control?

now to some other stories that caught our eye this morning. >> drama in a courtroom where two families were attending a sentencing hearing broke out into an all out brawl.

police had to use pepper spray and pin down some of the fighters to regain control of the situation. one person was sent to the hospital and two others were arrested. in boston, all that snow has to go somewhere. so city crews have enlisted a snowzillo it's a snow melting machine that converts water into hot air. it's to melt the white stuff. they managed to clear 800 michaels roadway following last weekend's blizzard. and now to chicago where 62 children from 23 countries took their oath and were sworn in as u.s. citizens. mayor rahm emanuel was the keynote speaker over the city's first ceremony dedicated solely to kids. instate upset. michigan state versus michigan. number 8 hosted archrival number 4 michigan. it quickly turned into a rout with michigan state up 20 points. it's the first time in history that the two teams were in top ten as they faced each other and the spartans demolished my wolverines 75-52. in gainesville, number 7 florida state undefeated at home and cruised to an easy win over

number 25 kentucky, 69-52. and florida takes over first place in the southeast conference. >> baseball. feliz fernandez signs a seven year contract. he's the highest paid pitcher in baseball. on the "tonight show," joe fisher set 17 records for free-throws. he's a former basketball coach from kansas who has perfected his free-throw form shot. he's called the world's fastest free-throw shooter and in just 30 seconds last night he made 27 free-throws, only five less than his current world record of 33. >> just ahead, steven spielberg is sending kids every where a round of lincoln.

a carrier sled helps deliver a woman in labor. details next.

welcome back. as far as the forecast goes. continuing to get on the warmer side as the week progresses into the weekend in southern california. l.a. no complaint remember 76. phoenix at 70. vegas 65. off and on showers. area of rain north of seattle and that's about it. few hit or miss showers today and tomorrow. kind of the same forecast you dealt with the last two days. i did tell you we're going see slight improvement this weekend

in areas like portland but we're still going to be a little bit cool with clouds only in the 50s. l.a. in the 80s. portland a beautiful town. >> thanks bill. students across the country will get a healthy dose of abraham lincoln courtesy of steven spielberg. the director announced he's sending free copies of "lincoln" to every middle school and high school as part of an outreach program. he wants to urge children to follow the 16th president's example. on tuesday, a whole lot of celebs announced they're pregnant. alec baldwin and his wife hilaria ended months of speculation. they confirmed their baby is due this summer. penelope cruz and javier announced they're expecting their second child. and meadow from "the sopranos" announced she's having her second baby. what's in the water, right? >> nbc is working to confirm the daily mail's report that steve martin and his wife had a baby back in december. martin who is 67 now may one day be the actual father of the bride.

queen elizabeth ii topped the list of the world's most powerful women with j.k. rowling and victoria beckham. kate middleton did not join the list but the judging panel said is she influential? hugely. is she powerful? not yet. >> they have a judging panel for that? >> i guess. and finally jay-z celebrated his big grammy wins by drinking cognac out of his grammy trophy. why not? it seems to have made the perfect cup and holds a lot. >> this comes to us from wvit in west hartford, connecticut, a blizzard was no match for one baby. lauri wood went into labor after three feet of snow was dumped on her neighborhood. neighbors used a luggage carrier to pull her to the hospital.

i'm richard lui. this is your "early today" just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

what do the small towns of liberal, kansas, and oleny, england have in common? a 60-year tradition, the pancake day run, as racers are clinging to frying pans as they speed 415 yards to the finish lines. participants come decked out in aprons and costumes. the anyonish times from the u.s. and uk are compared. this year with the time of 56

seconds, the prize goes to england. >> the world record setters show it's hip to be square. 5,000 people gathered in thailand to hoola hoop their way into the record books. seven minutes straight of simultaneous hoola hooping. participants demolished the previous world record with twice the people continuing twice as long. >> how long can you do it? >> maybe four turns. and a way to attract tourists in norway a funny way to attract attention. scream like a norwegian has the sights and sounds of the country. inspired by the screen painting by edward monk many have enlisted their own screams for the popular advertisement. give me your good scream. >> can't scream. >> was that a good effort? >> no. you're squealing. all day long you can stay on top of the very latest developments on those stories

and the best political analysis on msnbc. but not good screams. and tonight, be sure to watch "nbc nightly news" with brian williams. and here's a look at what's coming up later this morning on the "today" show. the very latest on last night's dramatic end to that california manhunt for former lapd officer christopher dorner. and following president obama's state of the union address, matt goes one-on-one with house speaker john boehner in an exclusive interview. finally, we'd like to take a moment to remember a long-term member of the nbc family, correspondent tom aspell who passed away monday after a two year battle with lung cancer. tom was a veteran for nbc news, he started his career as a cameraman in 1971 and later stepped in front of the lens to report it all, including bosnia chechnya and baghdad. he covered the fall of saddam, the fall of saigon, the fall of the shah. a native new zealander tom was at home anywhere in the world

most recently in cypress. he leaves behind his wife and two sons as well as countless friends and colleagues from his 28 year career here at nbc. tom was 62.

breaking news. east bay police on the scene of a possible shooting involving a police officer. we are live next. >> until mr. dorner has been identified as either deceased or he has handcuffs on him in jail, we are going to continue as though he's still out there.

>> and the overnight search for answers. what we have learned about a charred body inside a cabin in big bear and if it is really christopher dorner. >> plus, former giants slugger barry bonds returns to court to try to clear his name. >> right now, a live look from the south bay. a spanning shot. this is where the sun comes up. see the orange? nice way to start your wednesday, february 13th. this is "today in the bay." >> announcer: from nbc bay area, this is "today in the bay." >> good morning, everybody. it is 4:31. thank you very much for joining us. i'm john kelly. >> i'm laura garcia-cannon. let's first check the forecast with christina loren. good morning. >> good morning to you. it's a chilly start to the day. not as cold as it was this time yesterday. grab the coat. something you are willing to ditch by noon today as temperatures will be warm. in fact, we are going to touch on the